With the arrival of touch tablets on the market, a new range of possibilities opened up to be able to consume multimedia content from anywhere. You can watch movies, photos or listen to music. In addition, it is also possible to browse Internet pages in a very comfortable way. But, nevertheless, the user who wants to work can also do so with these touch screens.
The iPad 2, the latest model sold by the American company Apple, has different options to be able to work with all kinds of office documents. This will require downloaded from the online store App Store, any application that allows work. But not only with texts, but also with spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations. Therefore, for this service a complete office automation tool will be needed. And for this, we have selected some of them below:
Documents To Go
This office automation tool from DataViz is one of the most popular and the longest-running tools on the market. Documents To Go for iPad or iPad 2 is available in two versions for download: the normal version that has a price of eight euros or the Premium version that costs 14 euros.
With the first one you can see all kinds of documents: Word, Excel or PowerPoint. However, it has some shortcomings that the Premium version does allow. For example, the normal version of Documents To Go for iPad only allows you to edit Word and Excel files, leaving aside PowerPoint. Also, users who usually work with Internet-based services such as DropBox or Google Docs, will not be able to synchronize with them from the cheapest version. The Premium version is compatible with the following online services: DropBox, SugarSync, Box.net, Google Docs, Evernote and iDisk.
Even so, a powerful work tool is achieved that will allow the user to leave the laptop at home. And is that Documents To Go allows you to apply bold, underlined, indentation, font color, choose the font type and its size, etc… All this from a menu at the bottom of the screen. In addition, copying and pasting text will also be simple, as well as working with spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations.
QuickOffice HD
There is only one version of this tool and its price is 16 euros. With QuickOffice HD for iPad you can do practically the same thing as with Documents To Go, although of course, with a different interface. It also allows you to work with the same online services as the previous tool. This is important, because if the user works with different computers per day, it is an excellent way to always have the work synchronized and work with the document wherever it is.
QuickOffice HD for iPad is also compatible with documents in Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats , and all of them can be edited from Apple's own invention. Furthermore, being able to share the files with other users will also be easy. An example of this is being able to send them from the application itself in an email.
Finally, and perhaps a major absence for some clients in Documents To Go, is the ability to print files directly from the iPad or iPad 2 with QuickOffice HD.
Office HD
The price of this application has nothing to do with the previous two. And it is that Office HD costs six euros in the App Store. This office automation tool will be totally valid for those users who do not use PowerPoint. And it is that Office HD only allows you to work with documents in Word or Excel format. Of course, as a viewer it also allows PowerPoint and other formats such as PDF, JPEG, TXT, among others.
Of course, and following the line of the two previous tools, Office HD also integrates with different Internet services, although we remember that you can only work with files in Word (doc or docx) and Excel (xls) formats.
Google Docs
The next tool is the famous office suite Google: Google Docs. It is free, and although it allows you to work with different document formats, you can only create and edit text documents or spreadsheets. In other words, it is somewhat less powerful than the desktop version and that it works with a computer.
As highlights, it can be said that any document can be printed with the iPad and that it has no cost. However, as negative points it can be said that, although you can work without an Internet connection, for the changes to take effect, you must have a WiFi wireless point or use the contracted data rate.
The editing options are quite limited. That is to say, it has nothing to do with the three previous office tools that has its own menu with all kinds of changes to the fonts or the presentation. And finally, it is not an application to download. Rather, you should always use the iPad browser to be able to work outside the home or office.
Zoho Docs
On the other hand, there are users who only want to use their iPad as a natural extension of their computer. And, instead of carrying many papers on top, carry a single piece of equipment in your work backpack or briefcase and from there you can see all the content. Users who are already customers of the online office tool Zoho Docs will also have a free application for the Cupertino tablet available in the Apple App Store.
However, unlike in the previous cases, the client will only be able to view and not edit the documents. Of course, they may be files in different formats such as: PDF, xls, doc, docx, ppt, etc… That is, the iPad will function as a notebook where you can read all the content stored on a remote server and without taking up memory space internal of the tablet.
